If you need another reason why DRM does not make sense whatsoever read on. The PC version of Gears of WAR apparently has a expiration system build in that ran out on January 28, 2009. That’s right. If you legally bought the game you cannot play it anymore because the digital certificate expired. Does it make sense to specify an expiration date? Not really unless you would not sell but make the games available for rent.
Probably as disturbing is the fact that it is possible to overcome the problem by changing the date of the system to one prior to January 28. If this was supposed to be some kind of protection it was more than useless considering that the system data is checked for the data and not some server on the Internet.
It does look more like a blunder of someone forgetting to renew the certificate for the game. That again leaves the question unanswered why the game needs a certificate in first place.
No word yet on the piracy front but bets are 10:1 that the pirated copies of Gears of War are working just fine. If you bought the game you can either change your system date or wait for an official patch which is said to be out soon. Epic Fail so to speak..
Enjoyed the article?: Then sign-up for our free newsletter or RSS feed to kick off your day with the latest technology news and tips, or share the article with your friends and contacts on Facebook or Twitter.Related Articles:
Google Date Keeper, Add Date Filter To Google SearchRunAsDate, Run Programs With A Different System Date, Time
Waste Not Software Keeps Track Of Food Expiration Dates
Random date and time value generator
Look Up Local Time, Date And Weather Of Any Place In The World
Maybe this is a way to locate all of the hacked versions. :)
A number of secure websites encountered the same issue. The signing authorities used to provide a certificate chain that expired Jan 28, 2009. I had to update the chain on one of the websites I manage.
More info from globalsign about this issue: http://globalsign.com/support/intermediate/serversign_ca_expiry.php
When you post this type of article it would be a great service to us for you to also post a link or e-mail we can use to chide them for their error [and possibly push along the fix]. I own the game, but I just bought it on sale, and I haven’t even opened the package yet. Who better to tell them what I think of their little game.
Will do from now on, thanks for the tip :)